Seattle Public Library, USA

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Architect: Rem Koolhaas, Material: Steel

The new Seattle Public Library houses the library's main collection of books, government publications, periodicals, audiovisual materials and the technology to access and distribute information from the physical collection online. The building is divided into eight horizontal layers, each varying in size to fit its function. A structural steel and glass skin unifies the multifaceted form and defines the public spaces in-between.

Situated on a sloping site between fourth and fifth street the new library will have entrances on both street levels. The entrance level on fourth Street, one of Seattle's main thoroughfares, houses the Children's Library and foreign-language resources.
Rows of escalators lead to the fifth Street "Living Room" lobby located under a 50-foot-high sloping glass wall. The lobby can also be reached directly from a covered walkway than runs the length of the fifth Avenue facade.

The carpeted "Living Room" contains the fiction stacks while non-fiction is located on the "Dewey Ramp"; a four-story ramp that allows people to browse through books in a continuous sequence. The Reading room, on the top floor, has views of Puget Sound and the surrounding mountains.

Koolhaas sees the new library as a custodian of the book, a showcase for new information, a place for thought, discussion and reflection - a dynamic presence. The fact that the contents of a whole library can be stored on a single chip, or the fact that a single library can now store the digital content of all libraries, together represent potential rethinking: new forms of storage enable the space dedicated to real books to be contained; new forms of reading enhance the aura of the real book. The in-between spaces are like trading floors where librarians inform and stimulate, where the interface between the different platforms is organized - spaces for work, interaction, and play.

All information and images courtesy IA&B and the Designers. Credits and copyrights as duly mentioned.